HAVN exists to help reshape built environments, creating healthy third spaces for people to gather and simply be.
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Starting with a group of friends in 2021, HAVN is realizing a dream to create artistically driven spaces that enhance urban lives by fostering connections with oneself, others, and the world around us.
In these busy, highly distracted times, we believe it is essential to invest care, attention, and creativity into designing spaces that encourage people to be present in the moment.
HAVN blends creative design with hydrotherapy to make being present a bit easier. The simple act of sitting in a sauna, feeling the warmth, and then immersing in a cold pool helps you tune into how your body feels and become more aware of the details around you.
On a broader scope, the spaces we inhabit shape our existence. Most of our lives are in environments designed and built by humans. We draw inspiration from spaces built specifically to help people enjoy life and connect meaningfully. This love for great spaces drives us forward, and we hope the spaces we create can improve people's lives, making them feel comfortable, connected and present.
Transformed from a vessel of urgency into a retreat of stillness. A living piece of history, reimagined.
In 1943, the U.S. Navy commissioned a limited run of workshop barges, designed for rapid vessel repairs at sea. The HAVN barge began its life as one of these, built in Tacoma during the spring of '43. It was then sent to San Francisco, Pearl Harbor, and eventually returned to the West Coast.
The barge’s entry into the HAVN story was pure fate. Eight months into HAVN’s startup, the team couldn’t find a suitable barge to use as a foundation. Just as they were about to give up, a call came from the northern archipelago. An old mariner was retiring and selling off its assets—one of which was the barge, then called SLT 1. The call came on a Thursday, and by Sunday, the team had visited the barge on an offshore island and made an offer. This moment became known as the turning point in HAVN’s history.To start, the barge was stripped of all insulation and cables. Nick, Matt, and Damo made the rookie mistake of thinking that three guys could gut a 150-foot barge by themselves. Fueled by excitement and awe for the wild project, they pushed through the task in the hot August heat. However, it would go down in history as “the worst job I ever had,” as Matt later recalled.
Over the following months, HAVN was built piece by piece. The team balanced the challenges of working at sea in winter with navigating the complex political landscape of approval. Many friendships were forged, and a few were lost. In the end, what was created surpassed their expectations. A dream had become a reality, leaving everyone in awe of what they had accomplished.
By spring, the team was exhausted. A harsh, cold winter at sea, combined with six-day work weeks, had drained their energy and dampened the excitement that had fueled them in the beginning. But as they planted a garden, birds began to arrive—almost as if a sign of hope. The next morning, they found nests with eggs in them. The team took this as an omen that life would grow here. Two weeks later, approval came from the city of Victoria to moor in the Inner Harbor. Bjorn made a fake golden egg, joking, “This might just turn out to be a golden goose.”
